Recent posts - Page 8

#71

JPL - NASA / NASA Noise Prediction Tool Sup...

Last post by feeds - April 08, 2024, 12:19:12 AM

NASA Noise Prediction Tool Supports Users in Air Taxi Industry

1 min readPreparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

The results from a NASA software tool called OVERFLOW, used to model the flow of air around aircraft, are shown in this image.NASA

Several air taxi companies are using a NASA-developed computer software tool to predict aircraft noise and aerodynamic performance. This tool allows manufacturers working in fields related to NASA's Advanced Air Mobility mission to see early in the aircraft development process how design elements like propellors or wings would perform. This saves the industry time and money when making potential design modifications.

This NASA computer code, called "OVERFLOW," performs calculations to predict fluid flows such as air, and the pressures, forces, moments, and power requirements that come from the aircraft. Since these fluid flows contribute to aircraft noise, improved predictions can help engineers design quieter models. Manufacturers can integrate the code with their own aircraft modeling programs to run different scenarios, quantifying performance and efficiency, and visually interpreting how the airflow behaves on and around the vehicle. These interpretations can come forward in a variety of colors representing these behaviors.

This computer program is available to industry for U.S. release via the software.nasa.gov website.

An OVERFLOW modeling image from the manufacturer Joby Aviation.Joby Aviation

An OVERFLOW modeling image from the manufacturer Wisk.Wisk

An OVERFLOW modeling image from the manufacturer Archer Aviation.Archer Aviation





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                  Last Updated

               Apr 04, 2024

         EditorDede DiniusContactTeresa Whitingteresa.whiting@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center

   Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterAdvanced Air MobilityAdvanced Air Vehicles ProgramAeronauticsAeronautics Research Mission DirectorateAmes Research CenterDrones & YouFlight InnovationGlenn Research CenterLangley Research CenterRevolutionary Vertical Lift Technology






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Source: NASA Noise Prediction Tool Supports Users in Air Taxi Industry

#72

JPL - NASA / ARMD Solicitations

Last post by feeds - April 08, 2024, 12:19:12 AM

ARMD Solicitations

7 min readPreparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

Illustration showing multiple future air transportation options NASA researchers are studying or working to enable.NASA

This ARMD solicitations page compiles the opportunities to collaborate with NASA's aeronautical innovators and/or contribute to their research to enable new and improved air transportation systems. A summary of available opportunities with key dates requiring action are listed first. More information about each opportunity is detailed lower on this page.

AAVP FellowshipKey date: April 30, 2024 (Proposals due.)April 5, 2024, at 2 p.m. EDT (Pre-proposal Webinar)

University Leadership InitiativeKey date: May 29, 2024

Advanced Air MobilityKey date: Feb. 1, 2025, at 6 p.m. EST

Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations is using this request for information to identify technologies that address current challenges facing the wildland firefighting community. NASA is seeking information on data collection, airborne connectivity and communications solutions, unmanned aircraft systems traffic management, aircraft operations and autonomy, and more. This will support development of a partnership strategy for future collaborative demonstrations.

Interested parties were requested to respond to this notice with an information package no later than 4 pm ET, October 15, 2023, that shall be submitted via https://nari.arc.nasa.gov/acero-rfi. Any proprietary information must be clearly marked. Submissions will be accepted only from United States companies.

View the full RFI Announcement here.

Advanced Air Mobility Mission

GENERAL ADVANCED AIR MOBILITYANNOUNCEMENT OF REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONThis request for information (RFI) is being used to gather market research for NASA to make informed decisions regarding potential partnership strategies and future research to enable Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). NASA is seeking information from public, private, and academic organizations to determine technical needs and community interests that may lead to future solicitations regarding AAM research and development.

This particular RFI is just one avenue of multiple planned opportunities for formal feedback on or participation in NASA's AAM Mission-related efforts to develop these requirements and help enable AAM.

The current respond by date for this RFI is Feb. 1, 2025, at 6 p.m. EST.

View the full RFI announcement here.

NASA Research Opportunities in Aeronautics

NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) uses the NASA Research Announcement (NRA) process to solicit proposals for foundational research in areas where ARMD seeks to enhance its core capabilities.

Competition for NRA awards is open to both academia and industry.

The current open solicitation for ARMD Research Opportunities is ROA-2023 and ROA-2024.

Here is some general information to know about the NRA process.

NRA solicitations are released by NASA Headquarters through the Web-based NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES).

All NRA technical work is defined and managed by project teams within these four programs: Advanced Air Vehicles Program, Airspace Operations and Safety Program, Integrated Aviation Systems Program, and Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program.

NRA awards originate from NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia, Ames Research Center in California, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.

Competition for NRA awards is full and open.

Participation is open to all categories of organizations, including educational institutions, industry, and nonprofits.

Any updates or amendments to an NRA is posted on the appropriate NSPIRES web pages as noted in the Amendments detailed below.

ARMD sends notifications of NRA updates through the NSPIRES email system. In order to receive these email notifications, you must be a Registered User of NSPIRES. However, note that NASA is not responsible for inadvertently failing to provide notification of a future NRA. Parties are responsible for regularly checking the NSPIRES website for updated NRAs.

ROA-2024 NRA Amendments

Amendment 1UPDATED MARCH 29, 2024

(Full text here.)

Amendment 1 to the NASA ARMD Research Opportunities in Aeronautics (ROA) 2024 NRA has been posted on the NSPIRES web site at https://nspires.nasaprs.com.

The announcement solicits proposals from accredited U.S. institutions for research training grants to begin the academic year. This NOFO is designed to support independently conceived research projects by highly qualified graduate students, in disciplines needed to help advance NASA's mission, thus affording these students the opportunity to directly contribute to advancements in STEM-related areas of study. AAVP Fellowship Opportunities are focused on innovation and the generation of measurable research results that contribute to NASA's current and future science and technology goals.

Research proposals are sought to address key challenges provided in Elements of Appendix A.8.

Notices of Intent (NOIs) are not required.

A budget breakdown for each proposal is required, detailing the allocation of the award funds by year. The budget document may adhere to any format or template provided by the applicant’s institution.

Two pre-proposal teleconferences for potential proposers will be held and meeting links will be posted on NSPIRES. The first was held on March 15.

The second and final Pre-proposal Webinar for the AAVP Funding Opportunities solicitation will be held on April 5, 2024 from 2:00-3:00 PM EDT. During this repeat session, the AAVP Integration Manager will introduce the opportunity and highlight information contained in the "ROA-2024 Complete Solicitation", regarding proposal preparation and requirements. Proposers may also receive technical assistance from project staff at this time, including guidance for submitting proposals.

Prior to joining the webinar, please familiarize yourself with the "ROA-2024 Complete Solicitation", and the "Advanced Air Vehicles Program (AAVP) Fellowship Opportunities" found on their respective landing pages in NSPIRES.

Registration for the Pre-proposal Webinar is required. Click here to register. When your registration is complete, an invitation will be sent to your email address.

Proposals are due by April 30, 2024, at 5 PM ET.

Amendment 2NEW FEB. 29, 2024

(Full text here.)

University Leadership Initiative (ULI) provides the opportunity for university teams to exercise technical and organizational leadership in proposing unique technical challenges in aeronautics, defining multi-disciplinary solutions, establishing peer review mechanisms, and applying innovative teaming strategies to strengthen the research impact.

Research proposals are sought in six ULI topic areas in Appendix D.4.

Topic 1: Safe, Efficient Growth in Global Operations (Strategic Thrust 1)

Topic 2: Innovation in Commercial High-Speed Aircraft (Strategic Thrust 2)

Topic 3: Ultra-Efficient Subsonic Transports (Strategic Thrust 3)

Topic 4: Safe, Quiet, and Affordable Vertical Lift Air Vehicles (Strategic Thrust 4)

Topic 5: In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance (Strategic Thrust 5)

Topic 6: Assured Autonomy for Aviation Transformation (Strategic Thrust 6)

This NRA will utilize a two-step proposal submission and evaluation process. The initial step is a short mandatory Step-A proposal due May 29, 2024. Those offerors submitting the most highly rated Step-A proposals will be invited to submit a Step-B proposal. All proposals must be submitted electronically through NSPIRES at https://nspires.nasaprs.com. An Applicant's Workshop will be held on Thursday April 3, 2024; 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (https://uli.arc.nasa.gov/applicants-workshops/workshop8)

ROA-2023 NRA Amendments

Amendment 5UPDATED JAN. 30, 2024

(Full text here)

Amendment 5 to the NASA ARMD Research Opportunities in Aeronautics (ROA) 2023 NRA has been posted on the NSPIRES web site.

University Student Research Challenge (solicitation NNH23ZEA001N-USRC) seeks to challenge students to propose new ideas/concepts that are relevant to NASA Aeronautics. USRC will provide students, from accredited U.S. colleges or universities, with grants for their projects and with the challenge of raising cost share funds through a crowdfunding campaign. The process of creating and implementing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator – requiring students to act like entrepreneurs and raise awareness about their research among the public.

The solicitation goal can be accomplished through project ideas such as advancing the design, developing technology or capabilities in support of aviation, by demonstrating a novel concept, or enabling advancement of aeronautics-related technologies.

Notices of Intent (NOIs) are not required for this solicitation. Three-page proposals for the next USRC cycle were due November 9, 2023.

Proposals also can be submitted later and evaluated during the third (due March 21, 2024 — this is a date change from Feb. 22) and fourth (due June 20, 2024) cycles.

Amendment 4 (Expired)(Full text here)

Amendment 3 (Expired)(Full text here)

Amendment 2 (Expired)(Full text here)

Amendment 1 (Expired)(Full text here)




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                  Last Updated

               Apr 04, 2024

         EditorJim BankeContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov

   Related TermsAeronauticsAeronautics Research Mission Directorate

Source: ARMD Solicitations

#73

JPL - NASA / University Teams Selected as F...

Last post by feeds - April 08, 2024, 12:19:12 AM

University Teams Selected as Finalists to Envision New Aviation Responses to Natural Disasters

3 min readPreparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

The Gateways to Blue Skies Competition is sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and is managed by the National Institute of Aerospace.NIA

Eight teams participating in the 2024 Gateways to Blue Skies: Advancing Aviation for Natural Disasters Competition have been selected to present their design concepts to a panel of industry experts at the 2024 Blue Skies Forum, May 30 and 31, 2024 at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.

Sponsored by NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), this year's Blue Skies Competition asked teams of university students to research and conceptualize aviation-related systems that will aid in natural disaster management, and to submit a five to seven-page proposal and a video summarizing their concept.

"We are thrilled with the diversity of ideas from all the finalists and can see their passion for making a real impact in natural disaster response through new and improved aviation systems," said Steven Holz, NASA Aeronautics University Innovation Assistant Project Manager and Blue Skies judge and co-chair. "We look forward to seeing their final papers, infographics, and hearing their final presentations at the forum."

The 2024 Gateways to Blue Skies: Advancing Aviation for Natural Disasters finalist projects represent diverse natural disaster response types, including earthquakes, avalanches, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, floods, and wildfires:

Boston University

Deployable Unmanned Aerial System to Detect and Map Volcanic Ash Clouds

Advisor: James Geiger

Boston University

Rapid Evaluation, Coordination, Observation, Verification & Environmental Reporting (RECOVER)

Advisor: Dr. Anthony Linn

Bowie State University

Enhancing Earthquake Disaster Relief with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Advisor: Dr. Haydar Teymourlouei

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Aero-Quake Emergency Response Network

Advisor: Mark Gonda

Cerritos College

F.I.R.E. (Fire Intervention Retardant Expeller)

Advisor: Janet McLarty-Schroeder

Columbia University

AVATARS: Aerial Vehicles for Avalanche Terrain Assessment and Reporting Systems

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Mike Massimino

North Carolina State University

Reconnaissance and Emergency Aircraft for Critical Hurricane Relief (REACHR)

Advisor: Dr. Felix Ewere

University of Texas, Austin

Data Integrated UAV for Wildfire Management

Advisor: Dr. Christian Claudel

As climate change increasingly influences the frequency and severity of natural disasters on a global scale, opportunities to contribute at the intersection of technological advancement, aviation, and natural disasters grow in both number and importance. NASA Aeronautics is dedicated to expanding its efforts to assist commercial, industry, and government partners in advancing aviation-related systems that could help prepare for natural disasters, lessen their impacts, and speed up recovery efforts.

The eight finalist teams each receive $8,000 stipends to facilitate full participation in the Gateways to Blue Skies Forum, which will be held in May in Mountain View and will be livestreamed globally. Winning team members earn a chance to intern at one of NASA's Aeronautics centers in the 2024-25 academic year.

The 2024 Gateways to Blue Skies competition is sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate's (ARMD's) University Innovation Project (UI) and is managed by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA).

For more on the Gateways to Blues Skies: Advancing Aviation for Natural Disasters competition, visit https://blueskies.nianet.org.





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               Apr 01, 2024



   Related TermsLangley Research CenterAeronautics






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Source: University Teams Selected as Finalists to Envision New Aviation Responses to Natural Disasters

#74

JPL - NASA / NASA, Health and Human Service...

Last post by feeds - April 08, 2024, 12:19:12 AM

NASA, Health and Human Services Highlight Cancer Moonshot Progress

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson delivers remarks during an event with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to highlight how the agencies are making progress toward President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in the Earth Information Center at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. NASA is working with agencies and researchers across the federal government to help cut the nation's cancer death rate by at least 50% in the next 25 years, a goal of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

During an event at NASA Headquarters in Washington Thursday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra united to note progress their respective agencies are making in space and on Earth toward President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative.

"We go to space not just to explore the stars, but to improve life here on Earth," said Nelson. “In that microgravity environment, NASA is studying cancer growth—and the effect of cancer treatments— much faster than we can on Earth. I am grateful for President Biden's leadership as we continue to make moonshot after moonshot to end cancer as we know it."

Also participating in the event was Dr. W. Kimryn Rathmell, director of the National Cancer Institute, as well as NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Frank Rubio, both of whom each recently served extended science missions 250 miles off the Earth aboard the International Space Station where they conducted cancer-related research.

As the second leading cause of death in the United States, the President and First Lady's Cancer Moonshot is a national effort to end cancer. Nelson noted several related experiments space station astronauts have conducted aboard the orbital laboratory for the benefit of all including protein crystal growth, nanoparticle drug delivery, tissue engineering, and stem cell research.

In addition to $2.9 billion across HHS in the President's fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, Becerra discussed his agency's capabilities to accelerate progress toward the President's moonshot goals.

"Eliminating cancer as we know it is a goal that unifies the country," said Becerra. "We all know someone, and most of us love someone, who has battled this terrible disease. As we did during the race to the Moon, we believe our technology and scientific community are capable of making the impossible a reality when it comes to ending cancer as we know it."

The backdrop for the event was NASA's Earth Information Center, which provides access to NASA satellites and other data to see how our planet is changing.

NASA is working with HHS and researchers across the federal government to help cut the nation's cancer death rate by at least 50% in the next 25 years, a goal of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

Learn more about Cancer Moonshot at:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/cancermoonshot/

-end-

Faith McKie / Cheryl WarnerHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1600faith.d.mckie@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov

Renata MillerHealth and Human Services, Washington202-570-8194renata.miller@hhs.gov





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               Mar 21, 2024

         LocationNASA Headquarters

   Related TermsScience in the AirAstronautsISS ResearchNASA Headquarters

Source: NASA, Health and Human Services Highlight Cancer Moonshot Progress

#75

JPL - NASA / NASA Armstrong Updates 1960s C...

Last post by feeds - April 08, 2024, 12:19:12 AM

NASA Armstrong Updates 1960s Concept to Study Giant Planets

3 min readPreparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

John Bodylski holds a balsa wood model of his proposed aircraft that could be an atmospheric probe. Directly in front of him is a fully assembled version of the aircraft and a large section of a second prototype at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.NASA/Steve Freeman

NASA researchers are looking at the possibility of using a wingless, unpowered aircraft design from the 1960s to gather atmospheric data on other planets – doing the same work as small satellites but potentially better and more economically.

John Bodylski, a principal investigator at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, hypothesized a lifting body aircraft design NASA tested decades ago could meet the requirements for an atmospheric probe that can collect measurements of giant planets, like Uranus. The design relies on the aircraft's shape for lift, rather than wings.

The lifting body aircraft on Rogers Dry Lake, near what is now NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, include, from left, the X-24A, the M2-F3, and the HL-10.NASA

Bodylski submitted his idea and earned a NASA Armstrong Center Innovation Fund award to write a technical paper explaining the concept and design. The award also supports construction of models to help people conceptualize his atmospheric probe. Enter the NASA Armstrong Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory.

Robert "Red" Jensen and Justin Hall, two of the lab's designers, technicians, and pilots, brought Bodylski's designs to life. Jensen and Hall created a mold, then layered in carbon-fiber and foam that cured for eight hours under vacuum. The parts were removed from the molds, refined, and later joined together.

Justin Hall, left, and Robert "Red" Jensen, at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, add layers of carbon fiber and foam in a mold. Another few layers will be added and then it will be cured about eight hours under vacuum. The parts were later removed from molds, refined, and joined for an aircraft that is designed to be an atmospheric probe.NASA/Steve Freeman

Justin Hall, left, and Robert "Red" Jensen work to eliminate the air around an aircraft mold where it will cure for eight hours. The subscale aircraft development at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, may result in an atmospheric probe.NASA/Steve Freeman

The first of the two lifting body aircraft, both of which are 27 1/2 inches long, and 24 inches wide, is complete and offers a first look at the concept. The second aircraft is almost ready and includes hinged flight control surfaces. Flight controls systems connected to those surfaces will be mounted inside the structure before the model's final assembly.

Together, the two models can test Bodylski's ideas and provide flight data for creating better computer models. In the future, those computer models could help researchers built atmospheric probes based on those designs. Bodylski's concept called for sending the aircraft on missions attached to satellites. Once in the orbit of a planet, the probe aircraft – about the same size as the models – would separate from the satellite through pyrotechnic bolts, deploying in the atmosphere to collect data for study.

Robert "Red" Jensen removes a major component from an aircraft mold for assembly of a prototype of an atmospheric probe as Justin Hall watches at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.NASA/Steve Freeman

Current atmospheric probes, small satellites known as CubeSats, gather and transmit data for about 40 minutes and can take in approximately 10 data points before their parent satellite is out of range. Bodylski's design could descend more rapidly and at a steeper angle, collecting the same information in 10 minutes, plus additional data for another 30 minutes from much deeper in a thick atmosphere.

Following a series of technical briefings and flight readiness reviews, the aircraft is expected to fly in March 2024. It will fly as a glider air-launched from a cradle attached to rotorcraft often used by the lab. Future tests could include powered flight depending on what data researchers determine they need.

"We are looking to take an idea to flight and show that a lifting body aircraft can fly as a probe at this scale – that it can be stable, that components can be integrated into the probe, and that the aircraft can achieve some amount of lift," Bodylski said.





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                  Last Updated

               Mar 14, 2024

         EditorDede DiniusContactJay Levinejay.levine-1@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center

   Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterAeronauticsAeronautics Research Mission DirectorateCenter Innovation FundFlight InnovationSpace Technology Mission Directorate






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Source: NASA Armstrong Updates 1960s Concept to Study Giant Planets

#76

JPL - NASA / New Look at NASA, Boeing Susta...

Last post by feeds - April 08, 2024, 12:19:12 AM

New Look at NASA, Boeing Sustainable Experimental Airliner

2 min readPreparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

Artist's concept of the X-66 aircraft that Boeing will produce through NASA's Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project.

As NASA and Boeing enter the early stages of producing the X-66, the first X-plane specifically focused on helping the United States achieve net-zero aviation emissions by 2050, the team is already picturing what the aircraft will look like soaring above the clouds.

A new rendering of the X-66 from Boeing demonstrates the aircraft's signature extra-long, thin wings stabilized by diagonal struts, known as the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing concept. When combined with other advancements in propulsion systems, materials, and systems architecture, this configuration could result in up to 30% less fuel consumption and reduced emissions when compared with today's best-in-class aircraft.

Under the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Boeing will work with NASA to build, test, and fly the full-scale X-66 demonstrator aircraft. The project seeks to inform a new generation of more sustainable single-aisle aircraft – the workhorse of passenger airlines around the world. Boeing transported the MD-90 aircraft that will be turned into the X-66 to its Palmdale, California facility last year, and has removed its engines as the modifications started.

The X-66 is a key part of NASA's Sustainable Flight National Partnership, through which the agency seeks to protect the environment, grow the U.S. economy, and provide new innovations for the traveling public.



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                  Last Updated

               Mar 07, 2024

         EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov

   Related TermsAeronauticsAeronautics Research Mission DirectorateArmstrong Flight Research CenterGreen Aviation TechIntegrated Aviation Systems ProgramSustainable Flight Demonstrator

Source: New Look at NASA, Boeing Sustainable Experimental Airliner

#77

JPL - NASA / NASA Grants to Engage Students...

Last post by feeds - April 08, 2024, 12:19:12 AM

NASA Grants to Engage Students in Quiet Supersonic Community Overflight

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is dramatically lit for a “glamour shot,” captured before its Jan. 12, 2024, rollout at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale where the airplane was constructed.Credit: Lockheed Martin / Michael Jackson

NASA has issued new grants to five universities to help develop education plans for the community overflight phase of the agency's Quesst mission, which aims to demonstrate the possibility of supersonic flight without the typical loud sonic booms.

The new grants, from NASA's Office of STEM Engagement, will provide each university team with $40,000 to develop science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) engagement strategic implementation plans for those Quesst community overflights. The awards will focus on plans for engaging with students and educators in the communities that NASA will eventually select for overflights. This will help ensure communities are accurately informed about this phase of Quesst and what involvement in the mission will look like for their community.

"The Quesst mission is unique at NASA, with community input playing a major part in its success," said Eric Miller, deputy mission integration manager for Quesst. "These new awards will allow NASA to learn from other STEM professionals, informing us as we develop a framework to effectively engage with students and educators."

The selected institutions and their projects, are:

Carthage College, Kenosha, Wisconsin – STEM Quesst, Wisconsin Space Grant

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York –Quesst Community Overflight STEM Engagement New York Space Grant Consortium

Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia – Engaging the National NASA Space Grant Network in Support of the Quesst Community Overflight STEM Engagement

University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico – Space Grant Quesst Community Overflight STEM Engagement: Sounds of Our World

University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California – California Space Grant Planning Support for the Quesst Community Overflight STEM Engagement

The deliverables from the awards will help inform a student engagement approach that can be implemented in any community, state, and region that may be selected. NASA has yet to select communities for the overflights.

Through Quesst, NASA is developing its X-59 experimental aircraft, which will fly faster than the speed of sound while producing only a quiet sonic "thump." After the X-59 completes a series of flight tests, NASA will fly it over a number of communities across the country, gathering data about what people below hear.

For more information about Quesst, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/quesst/

-end-

Gerelle DodsonHeadquarters, Washington202-358-4637gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov





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                  Last Updated

               Mar 08, 2024

         LocationNASA Headquarters

   Related TermsQuesst (X-59)AeronauticsAeronautics Research Mission DirectorateCommercial Supersonic TechnologyFor Kids and StudentsLearning ResourcesLow Boom Flight DemonstratorNASA HeadquartersQuesst: The MissionQuesst: The ScienceQuesst: The TeamSTEM Engagement at NASA

Source: NASA Grants to Engage Students in Quiet Supersonic Community Overflight

#78

JPL - NASA / 2024 Dream with Us Design Chal...

Last post by feeds - April 08, 2024, 12:19:12 AM

2024 Dream with Us Design Challenge

14 min readPreparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

February 28–April 30, 2024

Challenge Theme

Responding to Natural Disasters with New Aviation

A natural disaster is a type of severe weather with the potential to pose significant threat to human health and safety. Natural disasters, especially wildfires, affect everyone around the world. Some are affected directly and others indirectly. NASA's Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project is helping to improve wildfire coordination and operations using drones and advanced technologies. Wildfires are not the only natural disasters that affect human life, animal life, and the environment. Learn more about NASA's ACERO project.

NASAs Advanced Air Mobility mission focuses on, in part, the drone technology needed to gather data about how these automated aircraft can help air travel be more accessible, safe, and affordable. Smaller aircraft such as cargo-carrying drones and passenger-carrying air taxis will have the capability to serve hard-to-reach urban and rural locations. The ACERO project researches the use of this technology to help with preventing a natural disaster, mitigating during a natural disaster situation, and rebuilding after a natural disaster has occurred.

The 2024 Dream with Us design challenge is asking for your help with ideas that will be shared with NASA's ACERO project and others to design or improve current systems and technologies responding to natural disasters with new aviation such as drones and air taxis. Designs and improvements will focus on these areas:

(1) help reduce natural disaster risks

(2) help mitigate the situation during a natural disaster, and/or

(3) help rebuild after a natural disaster has occurred.

Drone technology can have hundreds of uses and we want you to dream of ways they can help with natural disasters. Since these new technologies will affect future generations, part of the challenge asks you to tell younger audiences why your drone's work is important to them.

Submission Link & Information Sessions

Submission Linkhttps://stemgateway.nasa.gov/s/course-offering/a0B3d000001k6Zj/dream-with-us-2024-design-challenge

Educator Information SessionsMarch 27th & April 17th @ 7pm ET(sign-up form) https://forms.gle/xRxPvWBzM9FE8DEp8

Student Information SessionsMarch 29th & April 19th @ 2pmET(sign-up form) https://forms.gle/8vteUgshJ2q24LW9AUse this link to join the student information session for March 29th @ 2pm ET.Microsoft Teams meeting Join on your computer, mobile app or room device Click here to join the meetingMeeting ID: 228 830 637 149 Passcode: rjjeuX Download Teams | Join on the web

Challenge Description

Students ages 13 – 18 are invited to join with NASA Aeronautics and help us improve the ways we help with natural disasters by adding new aviation capabilities. Put together your dream team of 2 – 4 teammates and create a new design or improve current capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to:

prevent risks that cause natural disasters

mitigate the situation during a disaster and/or

rebuild after a natural disaster has occurred

and create a campaign that shows elementary-aged kids why this is important.

Build a presentation for a team of NASA experts that explains how your drone helps in one or all three of these areas. Create a campaign that teaches kids about this disaster and the work of your UAV.

You will have access to STEM activities and resources that can be used to help your team create your project. Winning teams and their school will get the chance to meet a NASA expert to share how they contribute to current aeronautics challenges. Winning designs may also be shared on our social media platforms and more.

Ages

For students ages 13 – 18.

Project submission A is for teams of students ages 13 – 15. Project submission B is for teams of students ages 16 – 18 (for teams with multiple ages, the submission category will be based on the oldest member of the team). STEM activities for grades K – 12 will be available regardless of design challenge participation.

Dates

Submissions accepted March 1 – April 30, 2024. Submission link: https://stemgateway.nasa.gov/s/course-offering/a0B3d000001k6Zj/. Winners will first be announced during a virtual awards reception (TBD) then shared on social media and the Dream with Us design challenge webpage after the reception.

Challenge Rules

The 2024 Dream with Us Design Challenge opened February 28, 2024. The submission period begins March 1, 2024, and concludes on April 30, 2024, at 11:59 pm EDT. Schools, organizations, and community groups should communicate to parents and guardians that submissions are limited to one entry per team. Entries must be submitted through the submission link on the Dream with Us Design Challenge webpage: https://www.nasa.gov/dream-with-us/. If you are an educator sponsor who would like to submit a student team's entry on their behalf, you may do so. However, you will need signed permission forms from all parents or legal guardians that agree to the terms and requirements listed below and on the submission form.

Eligibility

Contest is open to all children ages 13-18 who are attending public, private, parochial, and home schools in the United States of America and children of U.S. military members stationed overseas. There will be two separate judging categories: one for participants ages 13 to 15 and one for participants ages 16 to 18.

Requirements

All submissions must be the original work of the students.

Students must be currently enrolled in grades 6 – 12. If you are a 6th grader but under the age of 13, your parent/guardian must create the registration for you, and complete and upload the permission slip to your account.

The challenge is limited to one entry per team.

Teams must include 2 – 4 student members.

Signed submission forms must be completed by parents or legal guardians for each participant.

Challenge submission presentations may include any of the following:

PowerPoint-type presentation

Typed, written plan

Video

Brochure

Flyer

Infographic

Commercial

Website

Other

*Please note that any videos, commercials, websites, or similar will be submitted via a link you provide that we will need to be able to access.

Regardless of how else you choose to communicate your idea, you must also include a PowerPoint-type presentation that details how your drone can help prevent, mitigate during, and/or help rebuild after a natural disaster has occurred and detail how you will share this message with kids.

Presentation Requirements

Every presentation will have two categories: technical and creative. Both categories must be included for consideration. The presentation must include the following information:

Technical Category

Which natural disaster you have chosen to address?

Why did you choose this natural disaster? Why is it important to you?

What are the cause and effects of this natural disaster?

Details of one or more of the following:

How your drone helps to prevent disaster risks?

How your drone assists emergency personnel during a disaster?

How your drone helps rebuild after a disaster has occurred?

(OR) How does your drone do all three?

Details about your drone

Image of the drone

Specifications and labeled parts of the drone

How is it new or an improvement to current systems and/or technologies? Compare dream design to current designs.

Can this drone help with other natural disasters?

If yes, explain how.

If no, explain why not.

Creative Category

Create a campaign that will reach elementary-aged kids. The campaign must include the following information.

Tell kids what your drone does.

How it helps the disaster you are focusing on?

Why this is important?

How would you teach kids about this?

Create one or more of the following to illustrate your message to kids.

Image

Infographic

Brochure

Mascot

Video

Cartoon/Comic strip

Website

Other

Images or artwork

Submitted as a high-resolution image of original artwork.

Submitted in .jpg or .png format (minimum of 2,400 pixel on the longest edge).

BONUS (It is optional to include the following information)

Explain synergistic technologies (team and work relationships – advantages and disadvantages).

Submitting Entries

All entries will be submitted through the gateway link found here and on the Dream with Us Design Challenge webpage. All entries must include the following:

Signed permission form completed by parent or legal guardian of each student.

Educators must include signed forms (completed by parent or legal guardian) for each student.

Written description must not exceed 150 words.

Written work and presentation submitted in a PDF format. PDFs are limited to 10 MB.

Artwork must be submitted as high-resolution images of the original artwork in .jpg or .png format (minimum of 2,400 pixels on the longest edge).

Any included videos must be uploaded to YouTube with a "watch URL" link shared during submission.

Judging & Criteria

Entries will be evaluated based on impact, practicality, originality, and how well the idea is communicated. Contest officials will select the top submissions and present them to a panel of five judges. Those judges will make selections based on the above-mentioned criteria to determine which projects will be recognized.

Recognition

All participants will receive a code that allows them to earn an "endorsement stamp" in the NASA Aeronautics Flight Log, which is available at https://www3.nasa.gov/flightlog/. In addition, select projects will be chosen to be highlighted and showcased through NASA social media, on our website, and in other locations as appropriate. Certificates and other recognition for select projects will also be made available. The selected project creators will be contacted individually using the email provided during registration and winners will be publicly announced on the Dream with Us Design Challenge webpage no later than June 1, 2024. Thank you for participating in the Dream with Us Design Challenge!

Challenge Topic Descriptions

Types of Natural Disasters

A natural disaster is a type of severe weather with the potential to pose significant threat to human health and safety.

Floods

Condition that occurs when water overflows over its natural or artificial barriers and accumulates over low-lying areas

https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/topics/terrestrial-hydrosphere/surface-water/surface-water-processes-measurements/floods

Wildfires

Unplanned and uncontrolled fires that spread rapidly and can be disastrous. Under control, wildfires can be essential to the ecosystem.

https://appliedsciences.nasa.gov/what-we-do/wildfires

Earthquakes

An intense shaking of Earth's surface caused by movements of the Earth's outermost layer.

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/earthquakes/en/

Volcanoes

An opening on the surface of a planet or moon that allows material warmer than its surroundings to escape causing an eruption.

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/volcanoes2/en/

Landslides

Heavy rainfall and flooding washes away the ground of rock, debris, and earth down a steep slope causing the earth to cover everything in its path.

https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/toolkits/disasters-toolkit/landslides-toolkit

Tornadoes

Form from severe thunderstorms leading to a clash between moist, warm air and cold, dry air and develop extremely strong horizontal winds that swirl around their center.

https://gpm.nasa.gov/resources/faq/what-difference-between-tornado-and-hurricane

Hurricanes (aka typhoons or cyclones)

Large scale storms with extremely strong horizontal winds that swirl around their center that form over warm waters near the equator.

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hurricanes/en/

Extreme heat

Heat wave is a period of unusually (historically) hot weather that lasts more than two days.

https://scijinks.gov/heat/

Extreme cold

Snowstorms are frozen precipitation that falls in the form of snow in large, heavy quantities.

https://espo.nasa.gov/impacts/content/IMPACTS

Etc. (others that directly affect the entrant)

Types of Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

A drone is an uncrewed/unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used to perform jobs with a drone pilot using a remote control or autonomously, without a pilot or a remote control. Small drones can be used for observation, mapping, or package delivery, while larger air taxis will have the capability to transport people. Uncrewed/unmanned aircraft systems is the term that emphasizes drones as a system. Click on this link for more information about uncrewed/unmanned aircraft systems.https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20170011510/downloads/20170011510.pdf

Multicopters

Small UAV that uses multiple propellers to fly. Using Newton's 3rd law: the propellers action pushes air downward causing an upward force (lift) reaction against gravity causing the quadcopter to move up. The number of propellers names the copter: 4 propellers = Quadcopter, 6 propellers = Hexacopter, and so on.

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/aam-science-behind-quadcopters-reader-student-guide_0.pdf?emrc=8caa02

Rotorcraft

Autonomous aircraft that uses one or more rotary wing to generate lift.

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/uas-appendix.pdf?emrc=60b6fb

Sm/Med/Lg Fixed Wing

Familiar 3-segment design with longer endurance than VTOL UAVs.

https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/LAR-TOPS-293

Air taxi

Large autonomous aircraft that can carry people relatively short distances

https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/armstrong/nasa-studies-human-pilots-to-advance-autonomous-air-taxis/

Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL)

Autonomous vehicles used to carry people that rely on vertical take-off and landing capabilities.

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/aam-air-taxi-design-challenge-educator-guide_0.pdf?emrc=c0b9bf

Resources

ACERO

Post-secondary Challenge: Gateways to Blue Skies

How to Register Your Drone

Remote Identification of Drones ("digital license plate")

Trust Certificate (any drones)

Activities

What is AAM?

Package Delivery Drone Simulation

Attack of the Drones

Air Taxi Design Challenge

Determining the Center of Gravity

The Science Behind Quadcopters

Flight Control Math 1 Graphing

Flight Control Math 2 Using the Distance Formula

Flight Control Math 3 Using Distance Formula & Speed Formulas

Flight Control Math 4 Using the Pythagorean Theorem

Flight Control Math 5 Finding the Equation of a Line and the Point of Intersection for Two Lines

Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Safety

Sensor Solutions

Propelling the Payload with Electric Propulsion

Videos

Dream with Us video

What is AAM?

NASA Flight – What is AAM?

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Playbook Video Series

NASA STEM Stars: Project Manager, Roberto Navarro (en español)

NASA STEM Stars: Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Michael J. Logan

Floods iQuest

The Environmental, Economic and Social Impact of Drought

Lifecycle of a Hurricane

How UAS Impacts the Future

NASA STEM Stars: Chief Pilot and Model Lab Operations Engineer, Robert "Red" Jensen

NASA STEM Stars: Principal Investigator of UAM Airspace Theory, David Zahn

NASA UTM: A Giant Leap for Air Transportation

Literacy

Red Jensen: UAS Technician

What is Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management?

For Educators

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) STEM Toolkit

Disasters Toolkit

NASA's Eyes on Extreme Weather

Types of Clouds and What They Mean (K-3)

Joint Polar Satellite System STEM Activity: Just in Case

Investigating the Climate System – Weather

Unmanned Aircraft Systems

AAM STEM Learning Module

UAS Traffic Management (UTM) Project

Educator Professional Developments

A Dream with Us virtual educator professional development will be scheduled for March 2024. Educators can also request a virtual professional development session to better understand the Dream with Us Design Challenge and how to apply. Educators may also request a virtual student session for a classroom/group to better understand the challenge, learn the requirements for applying, and ask questions. Request a virtual student or educator session at aeroSTEM@nasa.onmicrosoft.com. Please be sure to include valid contact information (name, email, phone, etc.) and the type of session(s) you are requesting.

Educator SessionsDates: March 27th and April 15thTime: 7pm ETSign up form: https://forms.gle/fhf6oxBUkFUaqGd5A

Student SessionsDates: March 29th and April 17thTime: 2pm ETSign up form: https://forms.gle/6dxJ3uj8DLk1a7fF9

Questions

Do you have additional questions about the Dream with Us Design Challenge? Reach out to the NASA Aeronautics STEM team at aeroSTEM@nasa.onmicrosoft.com.

Dream with Us



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                  Last Updated

               Mar 29, 2024

         EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov

   Related TermsAeronauticsAeronautics Research Mission Directorate

Source: 2024 Dream with Us Design Challenge

#79

JPL - NASA / NASA Instruments Will Listen f...

Last post by feeds - April 08, 2024, 12:19:12 AM

NASA Instruments Will Listen for Supersonic X-59's Quiet 'Thump'

4 min readPreparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

NASA recently completed a series of tests to reduce risks prior to Phase 2 of its Quesst mission, which will test the ability of the X-59 experimental aircraft to make sonic booms quieter. Credits: NASA/Steve Parcel

NASA's X-59 experimental aircraft is unique – it's designed to fly faster than the speed of sound, but without causing a loud sonic boom. To confirm the X-59's ability to fly supersonic while only producing quiet sonic "thumps," NASA needs to be able to record these sounds from the ground. The agency recently completed tests aimed at understanding equipment and procedures needed to make those recordings.

NASA's Carpet Determination In Entirety Measurements (CarpetDIEM) flights examined the quality and ruggedness of a new generation of ground recording systems, focusing on how to deploy the systems for X-59 testing, and retrieve the data they collect. In all, researchers set up 10 microphone stations over a 30-mile stretch of desert near NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

"We're trying to answer questions like how many people does it take to go out and service these instruments on a daily basis, how to get the data back, how many vehicles are needed – all those sorts of things on how we operate," said Dr. Forrest Carpenter, principal investigator for the third flight series, known as CarpetDIEM III. "We're kind of learning how to dance now so that when we get to the big dance, we're ready to go."

The X-59 itself is not yet flying, so using an F-15 and an F-18 from NASA Armstrong, the CarpetDIEM III testing involved 20 supersonic passes with speeds ranging from Mach 1.15 to Mach 1.4, at altitudes ranging from 40,000 to 53,000 feet. Three of the passes involved an F-18 conducting a special inverted dive maneuver to simulate a quiet sonic boom, with one getting as quiet as 67 perceived level decibels, a measure of the perceived noisiness of the jet for an observer on the ground.

Aerospace engineer Larry Cliatt, Quesst Phase 2 sub-project manager and technical lead for the acoustic validation phase of the Quesst mission, sets up a ground recording system in the California desert. The Quesst mission recently completed testing of operations and equipment to be used in recording the sonic thumps of the X-59. The testing was the third phase of Carpet Determination in Entirety Measurements flights, called CarpetDIEM for short. An F-15 and an F-18 from NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, created sonic booms, both loud and soft, to verify the operations of ground recording systems spread out across 30 miles of open desert.NASA/Steve Freeman

"We expect the X-59 sonic thump to be as low as about 75 perceived loudness decibels," said Larry Cliatt, sub-project manager for the Quesst acoustic validation phase. "That is a lot quieter than the Concorde, which was over 100 perceived loudness decibels."

In order to measure these very quiet sonic thumps, the ground recording systems used in the CarpetDIEM flights were calibrated to measure as low as about 50 perceived loudness decibels – the equivalent to being in the room with a running refrigerator.

CarpetDIEM III also validated the use of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, an existing technology flown on all commercial aircraft and most private aircraft to report speed and position. This system triggers the ground recording systems to begin recording.

"We can't have 70 different people at every single instrumentation box," Cliatt said. "We had to find a way to automate that process."

Dr. Forrest Carpenter, left, principal investigator for the third phase of CarpetDIEM, Carpet Determination in Entirety Measurements flights, monitors a test from one of the control rooms at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Next to Carpenter is Brian Strovers, chief engineer for Commercial Supersonic Technology. The third phase of CarpetDIEM tested logistics and upgraded ground recording systems in preparation for the acoustic validation phase of the Quesst mission.NASA/Steve Freeman

The recording systems are designed to withstand the desert elements, the extreme heat of summer and the cold of winter, and to be resistant to damage from wildlife, such as chewing by rodents, coyotes, and foxes.

"When we get to Phase 2 of the Quesst mission, we expect to be doing these recordings of sonic thumps for up to nine months," Cliatt said. "We need to be able to have instrumentation and operations that can facilitate such a long deployment."

Another lesson learned – setup time for the recording stations was just under an hour, compared to the anticipated 2 1/2 hours. Given the performance of the systems, the team will assess whether they need to visit all the sites every day of Phase 2 testing.

The team also learned about the coordination and documentation processes needed for such research, both with internal organizations, such as NASA Armstrong's Environmental and Safety offices, and with outside parties including:

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which gave approval to use public lands for the testing

Law enforcement, which helped secure the test site

The Federal Aviation Administration, which gave approval for NASA jets to fly outside the Edwards Air Force Base restricted airspace in order to conduct a portion of the CarpetDIEM tests

To prepare for Quesst Phase 2, researchers expect to conduct practice sessions in 2024, incorporating all the lessons learned and best practices from all three phases of CarpetDIEM.





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                  Last Updated

               Mar 14, 2024

         EditorDede DiniusContactJim Skeenjames.r.skeen@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center

   Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterAdvanced Air Vehicles ProgramAeronauticsAeronautics Research Mission DirectorateAeronautics TechnologyCommercial Supersonic TechnologyLow Boom Flight DemonstratorQuesst (X-59)Quesst: The FlightsSupersonic Flight






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Source: NASA Instruments Will Listen for Supersonic X-59's Quiet 'Thump'

#80

MIT Research / A first-ever complete map for ...

Last post by feeds - April 08, 2024, 12:19:12 AM

A first-ever complete map for elastic strain engineering

Without a map, it can be just about impossible to know not just where you are, but where you're going, and that's especially true when it comes to materials properties.

For decades, scientists have understood that while bulk materials behave in certain ways, those rules can break down for materials at the micro- and nano-scales, and often in surprising ways. One of those surprises was the finding that, for some materials, applying even modest strains — a concept known as elastic strain engineering — on materials can dramatically improve certain properties, provided those strains stay elastic and do not relax away by plasticity, fracture, or phase transformations. Micro- and nano-scale materials are especially good at holding applied strains in the elastic form.

Precisely how to apply those elastic strains (or equivalently, residual stress) to achieve certain material properties, however, had been less clear — until recently.

Using a combination of first principles calculations and machine learning, a team of MIT researchers has developed the first-ever map of how to tune crystalline materials to produce specific thermal and electronic properties.

Led by Ju Li, the Battelle Energy Alliance Professor in Nuclear Engineering and professor of materials science and engineering, the team described a framework for understanding precisely how changing the elastic strains on a material can fine-tune properties like thermal and electrical conductivity. The work is described in an open-access paper published in PNAS.

"For the first time, by using machine learning, we've been able to delineate the complete six-dimensional boundary of ideal strength, which is the upper limit to elastic strain engineering, and create a map for these electronic and phononic properties," Li says. "We can now use this approach to explore many other materials. Traditionally, people create new materials by changing the chemistry."

"For example, with a ternary alloy, you can change the percentage of two elements, so you have two degrees of freedom," he continues. "What we've shown is that diamond, with just one element, is equivalent to a six-component alloy, because you have six degrees of elastic strain freedom you can tune independently."

Small strains, big material benefits

The paper builds on a foundation laid as far back as the 1980s, when researchers first discovered that the performance of semiconductor materials doubled when a small — just 1 percent — elastic strain was applied to the material.

While that discovery was quickly commercialized by the semiconductor industry and today is used to increase the performance of microchips in everything from laptops to cellphones, that level of strain is very small compared to what we can achieve now, says Subra Suresh, the Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering Emeritus.

In a 2018 Science paper, Suresh, Dao, and colleagues demonstrated that 1 percent strain was just the tip of the iceberg.

As part of a 2018 study, Suresh and colleagues demonstrated for the first time that diamond nanoneedles could withstand elastic strains of as much as 9 percent and still return to their original state. Later on, several groups independently confirmed that microscale diamond can indeed elastically deform by approximately 7 percent in tension reversibly.

"Once we showed we could bend nanoscale diamonds and create strains on the order of 9 or 10 percent, the question was, what do you do with it," Suresh says. "It turns out diamond is a very good semiconductor material ... and one of our questions was, if we can mechanically strain diamond, can we reduce the band gap from 5.6 electron-volts to two or three? Or can we get it all the way down to zero, where it begins to conduct like a metal?"

To answer those questions, the team first turned to machine learning in an effort to get a more precise picture of exactly how strain altered material properties.

"Strain is a big space," Li explains. "You can have tensile strain, you can have shear strain in multiple directions, so it's a six-dimensional space, and the phonon band is three-dimensional, so in total there are nine tunable parameters. So, we're using machine learning, for the first time, to create a complete map for navigating the electronic and phononic properties and identify the boundaries."

Armed with that map, the team subsequently demonstrated how strain could be used to dramatically alter diamond's semiconductor properties.

"Diamond is like the Mt. Everest of electronic materials," Li says, "because it has very high thermal conductivity, very high dielectric breakdown strengths, a very big carrier mobility. What we have shown is we can controllably squish Mt. Everest down ... so we show that by strain engineering you can either improve diamond's thermal conductivity by a factor of two, or make it much worse by a factor of 20."

New map, new applications

Going forward, the findings could be used to explore a host of exotic material properties, Li says, from dramatically reduced thermal conductivity to superconductivity.

"Experimentally, these properties are already accessible with nanoneedles and even microbridges," he says. "And we have seen exotic properties, like reducing diamond's (thermal conductivity) to only a few hundred watts per meter-Kelvin. Recently, people have shown that you can produce room-temperature superconductors with hydrides if you squeeze them to a few hundred gigapascals, so we have found all kinds of exotic behavior once we have the map."

The results could also influence the design of next-generation computer chips capable of running much faster and cooler than today's processors, as well as quantum sensors and communication devices. As the semiconductor manufacturing industry moves to denser and denser architectures, Suresh says the ability to tune a material's thermal conductivity will be particularly important for heat dissipation.

While the paper could inform the design of future generations of microchips, Zhe Shi, a postdoc in Li's lab and first author of the paper, says more work will be needed before those chips find their way into the average laptop or cellphone.

"We know that 1 percent strain can give you an order of magnitude increase in the clock speed of your CPU," Shi says. "There are a lot of manufacturing and device problems that need to be solved in order for this to become realistic, but I think it's definitely a great start. It's an exciting beginning to what could lead to significant strides in technology."

This work was supported with funding from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, the Nanyang Technological University School of Biological Sciences, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the MIT Vannevar Bush Professorship, and a Nanyang Technological University Distinguished University Professorship.

Source: A first-ever complete map for elastic strain engineering